How To Ensure That Your First Evening Out Together Will Be One To Remember
So you’ve worked up the courage to finally ask out your dream guy or girl, and want to impress your crush with a killer first date. Who wouldn’t? But as much as you may be stressing over it, planning this first outing for the two of you doesn’t have to be something to worry too much about. Follow the simple guide below and you’ll be in for an evening to remember (hopefully, in a good way).
1. Choose The Right Location
I don’t think I need to explain why a first date at Taco Bell will send most girls running (I can think of a few reasons, depending on what you order). And unless you’re planning on proposing marriage off the bat, a three-star Michelin restaurant is just as inappropriate as a fast food joint. Picking an appropriate venue for a first date is truly half the battle of winning someone’s heart – and the key to success is a setting that’s not too dull or shabby, nor too romantic or intense.
2. Make Plans Over The Phone
Yes, it’s 2023. And yes, there’s a place for using text messages and social media in dating. But if you’re Snapchatting your first ever proposed plans to a guy or girl, you’re doing something wrong (that, or you’re a U.S. Congressman…and you’re still definitely doing something wrong). Pick up the phone and have a voice-to-voice conversation to let your romantic interest know what you have in mind for the day or evening. Not only will it help set the tone and further break the ice for your outing together, it’s simply the respectful thing to do.
3. Set A Time Limit
Whether legitimate or fabricated, set a constraint that will ensure your time together will be limited to two or three hours at the very most. In other words, plan to be somewhere else later that night – or you can even make something up. Not only does preemptively establishing other plans increase your perceived social value (you’re an important person with places to be!), but it will prevent you from getting stuck in a hellish situation that you can’t get out of. And if things go exceptionally well – all the better: you’ll prolong the magic and have something to look forward to next time. You can always cancel those later plans and extend the date!
4. Offer Transportation
If your destination is within a short walk from both of your homes, you might be able to get away with skipping this one. But if a car is required to get to your endpoint, you must at least offer to pick your date up. And if you’re in an urban environment like New York, in which the city practically runs on public transportation, you better make sure that the location is convenient to get to for your date. (That, or if you have the bucks to burn, you can be a true baller and send a car service). Not only will an hour-long bus ride ensure a late arrival for your date, but her libido will arrive D.O.A. if she makes it there at all.
5. Be Ready To Pay
Finally, always bring credit cards and extra cash. Lots of it. Even if you don’t intend on spending it. Better to pack heat and not use it at all than to show up with knives to a gunfight. This goes for ladies and gents being taken out, too: it’s always nice to offer to pay, and without any bank to show for it, such a gesture of good manners is impossible.
